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Sunday, October 5, 2014

How to be Frugal, Aside from the Obvious

Set aside all the frugal tips, weird or otherwise, found in this blog, all the penny watching that I am doing,too. There is one thing that really made me a certified frugal/cheap person:The Law of Focus: whatever you focus on... grows.You want to be good at applying make up?With the determination to learn, you will get there.You want to be good at cooking? Again, with determination to learn, you will be good at it.You want to be good at whatever you want to be good at? Determination is the key, and determination comes hand in hand with focus.When you are determined to learn, you would "google" or "wiki" it. You would pick up books and read about it. You would watch countless videos on You Tube about it. It's as if time has stop to give way to your urge to learn. You'll pick up anything that has something to do with the subject. You become somewhat obsess about it. You then would want to practice what you learn. In short, you have been FOCUS about it, and with focus comes learning and growth.Want to be frugal? Want to know personal finance? Investing? Stock Market? Economics? Then FOCUS about frugality, personal finance, etc.You know how? It's simple, but it does need a lot of effort.

Unfollow beauty blogs and any blog that deals with consumerism. Unsubsribe to all beauty channel on You Tube. Don't read about the latest gadget out there. Instead, focus your attention on personal finance and follow blogs that writes about frugality or make frugal/personal blog yourself! Look for frugal blogger that fits your style, make them your role model.Don't worry, this is just temporary. You won't be unsubscribing to all the beauty related blogger/vlogger for the rest of your life, unless you chose to. I am just suggesting to make your frugality/personal finance foundation as strong as possible before reading and watching beauty related stuffs,that way, you won't get tempted to buy and buy. Once your frugality muscle is well-developed, you would just plainly enjoy those beauty blogs, vlogs and hauls out there and not drool over the products mentioned or used.Personally, I stopped watching beauty related You Tube videos for about a year. Within that year, I've become obsessed with personal finance and pour my efforts on learning about it. A year or so later, I could watch You Tube videos and haul without a hint of temptation. That's when I knew that my personal finance foundation is strong. Up until now, I don't get tempted at all. I watch haul and beauty related stuffs just for entertainment and to know what's new out there. It gave me the dose of as-if-I-shopped-but-glad-I-didn't, and for that, I thank all the personal finance authors of all the books I read for this unusual superpower!

Read books,magazine or any write-ups about personal finance.

Don't just follow personal finance blogger, read the contents they posted, internalize it,comment to their posts, email them, get involve. The more you get involve, the more you feel like you are owning it, and the more you feel like you are a part of the whole community. It also a way of telling them how you value their online presence.

Want to own a house and lot, a car perhaps? Cut,print out or draw an image of a house and lot or a car you want to own and post it on wall,board, refrigerator or anywhere where you can easily see them. You can also make the image as your phone's screen saver or insert it on your wallet.

I am big on "writing your goals" and the whole "visualization" thing. I post my goals on my wall. I get to read it everyday. It serves as a reminder on things I want to accomplish (see post here). And you wouldn't believe how it help me focus on my goals!

I also keep a separate journal that details how to get to my goal and what I would be after reaching that goal. When I am out and about, the journal comes to the rescue, helping me focus more on my goals. It is also where I write in detail the blessings I am enjoying. Whenever I feel down and want some extra boost, I read the "all about blessings" section of my journal and I'm instantly reminded on how blessed I am and how I've changed, from that girl who doesn't even know what ticker symbol means to that girl who already have Php 2 Million in stocks! (I know, I am bragging. I am just proud of myself! Sorry!)

My Beat Up Journal

And oh, if you happen to already have a personal finance blog, please let me know and I will gladly follow you. I don't discriminate, starters are gladly welcome! :)

Totally agree with this! The main reason I created SavingsPinay. The blog helped me reach my financial goals because of accountability reasons. I broadcast my goals, I learn from people and I add value to others too. Thank God I found financial blogs just like yours :)

I agree, focus is key in anything we want to get. Before, I don't write my dreams. Now, I list them down, not in a paper but in my PC. I read a book by Bo Sanchez before (I don't remember the title) where he says we should list down our dreams so we could be more motivated to achieve them. We should read and reread it pa nga daw. It's also true that pag may gusto ka talaga makamit and pursigido ka, makakamit mo yun. And yes, reading personal finance blogs or any inspiring blog, for that matter, help a lot. :)

Yah, I am big with writting my goals too and visualization. I read the study somewhere about basketball players and visualization and the harvard students and visualization, too. It works for them so why not try it myself.

It's a good thing we found our own crowd here where we focus on one goal and through each & everyone's experience we learn from each other :) thanks a lot guyz!!!! sori binura ko ung una kong comment --in-edit ko lang--"crown" kasi nasulat ko instead na crowd...:)

It was written in my short-term goals last year to invest a total of 2M on stocks before coming home. Read results here: http://pinasforgood.blogspot.com/2013/12/short-term-goal-end-of-year-update.html

Just reading the word 'Million' really wants me to join stock market immediately but i still lack knowledge about this field. Anyway, Can I ask for your advice? Im still in college and I was really planning to invest in stock market and fortunately I only need 5K to start tho 2.5K plang na se-save ko. If I ever na meron na kong 5K should I invest it in stocks or mutual fund? I was advised kc to go for MF pero hndi ako familiar dun i still studying pa how this system works. Please advice what should i get first pero sana ung ma kukuha ko agad2 if ever something unexpected happens. Thank you PinasforGood!

Just so you know, the "million" I mentioned is not how much I gained sa stocks, ha? It's what I have been investing in total.

So, you want to invest in the stock market? How old are you? I assumed you are still young coz you are still in college. Are you still living with your parents? If you are, then good. You don't have much of an expenses.

Before investing, do you have an emergency fund set up? Emergency fund should cover 3-6 months of your monthly expenses. If you are still living with your parents, you don't have much to save up for emergency fund. Just for the what ifs, like if your laptop gets broken, etc ( what emergency comes up).

Before investing, what is your goal? Is it to buy a house in the future? Retirement? Identify WHEN you need it. The longer the horizon, the riskier you should put your funds in (equities, stocks)

Personally, I'd say put your money in a Mutual Fund first then study about individual stocks on the side. I did Mutual Fund investing as my very first paper investment just to test the water before jumping into individual stocks.

Been commenting and lurking on PinasforGood for quite a while. And through your blog Maria, I learn to blog about whichever work or not in terms of financial goal for our kababayan especially here in Canada. I'm proud to be a kuripot although frown upon by others and somewhat hated by insurance brokers or sales associate. Brag to be a kuripot because I'll only invest into something that doesn't depreciate, although that's inevitable with stocks etc. so choose wisely.